Labor Management - TimeForge Manual» staff member

How Do I Automatically Switch the Clocked In Position for Staff Members?

apresley — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:20:11 +0000

TimeForge is a powerful, but easy to use, labor management platform for service oriented industries (restaurants, retail, c-stores, grocers, hotels, etc…). Service-oriented businesses often have difficulties managing the complexities of their ever changing and high turnover workforce.

TimeForge can help manage labor by making labor management simple. Staff are commonly scheduled to work doubles, or back-to-back shifts. In some cases, a staff member may transition from one job (or position) to another without ever leaving the business, and may forget to switch their position in the attendance system.

To help ease administration of employees clocking in and out throughout the day, TimeForge can automatically switch staff to the correct position.

For example, a waiter or waitress (server) may work from 10:00am – 3:00pm as a waiter, and then transition to a bartender from 4:00pm – 8:00pm. Or, a lifeguard may work from 8:00am – 1:00pm, then as a swim coach from 1:00pm – 3:00pm.

Navigate to the Attendance Options

Locate the Attendance Options tab inside of TimeForge.

Set the Auto-Switch Position Flag

Locate the option to automatically switch positions, based on the schedule, for staff members who are clocked in.

Switch this from No to Yes, and then save your options.

TimeForge now will automatically switch jobs / positions for staff members who work back-to-back shifts.

Please note: The staff member needs to clock in to the first scheduled shift to allow TimeForge to transition between positions.

How Do I Set Up Grace Periods for Clocking In and Out?

apresley — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:01:43 +0000

TimeForge is a powerful labor management solution for your business. Most hourly wage workers in a business need arrive at work on time – too early will cause payroll problems, and too late will cause customer service disruptions. Four clock in and clock out scenarios will create problems for your business:

1. Arriving before the scheduled in time will reduce business profits, as staff members will arrive at work before they are needed.
2. Arriving after the scheduled in time causes customer service problems, as staff will not be available to service the customer’s needs.

3. Leaving before the scheduled out time can cause similar problems as clocking in late. Customers may not be serviced properly, and other staff may be overworked.
4. Leaving after the scheduled out time will increase payroll costs for the business, decreasing profits.

TimeForge provides multiple technology enhancements that will enforce your labor schedule, ensuring that staff show up on time, and that management know of time entries that affect payroll costs and the bottom line. Enforcing the schedule will reduce your labor costs by 2 – 4% with the click of a button!

Navigate to the Attendance Options

Locate the Attendance Options link or sub-tab (inside of the Attendance tab).

Enforce the Schedule with Grace Periods

To require that staff members clock in and out with a grace period, based on their scheduled shift, set the options as follows.

Please check your local labor regulations to see which ones are applicable (and legal) for your business.

For clocking in:
1. Switch this option from Yes, to No, requiring that employees must clock in at a predefined time.
2. Enter an appropriate grace period in minutes. This will allow employees to clock in prior to their shift starting.
Staff members who clock in too early will need a manager to approve their clock in.

For clocking out:
3. Switch this option from Yes, to No, requiring that employees must clock out at a predefined time.
4. Enter an appropriate grace period in minutes. This will allow employees to clock out after their shift ends.
Staff members who clock out too late will need a manager to approve their clock out.

Example:
Using the above options, a staff member who is scheduled from 10:00am – 4:00pm would be allowed to clock in after 9:50am, and must clock out no later than 4:20pm. Earlier than 9:50am or later than 4:20pm will require a manager override.

TimeForge University: Schedule Templates 201

apresley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:15:55 +0000

TimeForge Schedule Templates can be used to easily and quickly build labor schedules. Use schedule templates and weekly templates together to identify upcoming labor requirements and plan your staffing needs.

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

Additionally, you can build schedule templates as you build your work schedule, and can create an unlimited number of weekly and daily schedule templates. Each department can also have their own schedule templates, if desired.

TimeForge University: Employees 102

apresley — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:02:44 +0000

Managing staff members in TimeForge is easy! This video shows some of the more advanced features of TimeForge staff management. Review employee-centric scheduling and time cards, and learn how to export employees to a CSV format.

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

Using TimeForge, schedules can be reassigned based on turnover, or staffing emergencies, and employees can work at more than one location.

Working with labor in TimeForge at more than one store (or location) is easy! Staff members in TimeForge can clock in, clock out, receive schedules, send messages, and request time off or time they would like work.

TimeForge University: Clock In and Out

apresley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:29:50 +0000

Clocking in and out of TimeForge is easy! This video shows you how to clock in and out of TimeForge, to record the time that you were at work (on the clock).

Get the Flash Player to see this movie.

To accurately keep track of the time worked, TimeForge allows employees to clock in and out – recording the time worked, and preparing it in an easy to use format for payroll. Staff members can use our biometric (fingerprint) devices to clock in and out where necessary.

How do I add, edit, or delete Positions?

apresley — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:04:36 +0000

Adding, editing, and removing positions (also known as job codes in some industries) from within TimeForge is simple. Positions need to be created in order to schedule staff members.

Positions are automatically synchronized from some Point of Sale systems that TimeForge integrates with.

Get to the Employees Tab

First, navigate to the “Employees” tab.

Access the Position List Page

Select the “Edit Positions” link.

Add a New Position, or Choose an Existing Position to Edit

You can choose to create a new position, or edit an existing position. Also displayed are the base pay rates and pay scales for each position.

Please note: In a multi-location (multiple unit) business, Positions must be created at the Corporate Level. Each location will have it’s own version of the position, so that base pay rates and sections can be customized on a per-store basis.

Modify the Appropriate Fields

Fill in the appropriate fields. Each position must have a unique description, ie, no two positions can have the same description.

Other fields include the base pay rate and pay scale, which can include hourly or salaried, bi-weekly pay periods, and even one-time payments such as a live band or other entertainment. Choose an appropriate overtime calculation if desired.

If you are exporting payroll to a payroll system, you may need to include a Payroll identifier for the payroll company. Include this here as well.

Position Sections and Stations

Each position can have a number of sections or stations associated with it. This will allow you to schedule very specifically, if necessary.

A few examples of where this might be helpful:
- A Server position might have stations or sections for each grouping of tables, such as Section 1, Section 2, Section 3, etc..
- A LifeGuard position might have stations or sections for each lifeguard tower or chair, such as Dive Chair, Kiddie Pool, Lap Pool, etc…
- A Cook position might have stations or sections for each cooking position, such as Prep, Pizza, Grill, etc..

Multi-Level Pay Rates

In some states and municipalities, staff members are paid different rates based on the time they arrive. TimeForge supports this by allowing you to enter different rates during different time periods throughout the day.

For example, if a Server shows up before your restaurant opens, the pay rate may be lower than when the restaurant is operating.

Deleting a Position

To remove a position, simply click on the “Delete” link. TimeForge will prompt for verification before removing the position.

Please Note: TimeForge will not allow you to remove a position if an upcoming schedule or template uses the position, or if an employee is currently clocked in with the position.

What is a Schedule Template?

apresley — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:21:27 +0000

To quickly build employee schedules, many TimeForge managers rely on the TimeForge AutoScheduler and schedule forecasts, or build schedules by hand (one shift at a time). Other managers pre-build days on the schedule using collections of shifts, called templates.

Each TimeForge template contains one or more shifts, and can be used to quickly generate schedules for staff members. Each location (or store) can have many different templates (as many as are needed), and templates can be used to build new schedules.

Some examples of templates:
- Friday server / waiter template
- Monday night football template
- Summer weekend lifeguard template
- Christmas retail template

Templates can be grouped together to create Weekly Templates, for one-click schedule creation.

Employee Schedule Templates

Employee schedule templates can be built one shift at a time, or can be copied from other templates. Additionally, a template can be created from a pre-existing schedule, and if departments are enabled, each department will have individual schedule templates.

There are no limits to the number of schedule templates that can be created at a location.

Weekly Templates can be created from Daily Templates

Several schedule templates can be combined together into weekly templates, and supervisors and managers can use weekly templates to build entire schedules with a single click.

Templates can be assembled in different orders to handle labor scheduling across different seasonalities, holidays, or business requirements.

What is a Shift?

apresley — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:19:40 +0000

TimeForge schedules are a collection of many shifts, and each shift is assigned a corresponding start and end time, as well as position (or job), and employee. Other information can be included with each shift, including whether the shift is for an “extra” staff member, the section or station being worked, and other pertinent information.

Shifts can easily be created for a specific day on the schedule or copied to other days on the schedule. Shifts can be grouped together into days on the schedule, and then can be used to create a template for future schedules. Additionally, shifts can be reassigned to other staff members, and are used by the TimeForge AutoScheduler to estimate anticipated needs for schedules in the future.

Shifts can be Viewed Graphically

TimeForge shifts can be viewed graphically, for easy visual display of the staffing load for the day.

Adding and Editing Shifts is Easy

Adding and editing shifts on a schedule is simple! Each shift needs to include a start time, end time, position, and an employee. In many cases, TimeForge can automatically pick the employee based on availability, requests, and automated suggestions from the TimeForge AutoScheduler.

What is a Schedule?

apresley — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:18:52 +0000

Accurate and correct employee scheduling is a powerful labor cost control measure. With TimeForge, supervisors and managers can quickly and accurately build labor schedules while considering the needs of their business, as well as the desires of other staff members.

Each TimeForge schedule is a collection of many shifts, and each shift is assigned a corresponding start and end time, as well as position (or job), and employee. Other information can be included with each shift, including whether the shift is for an “extra” staff member, the section or station being worked, and other pertinent information.

TimeForge schedules can be of any usable business length – some businesses prefer one-week, two-week, or one-month schedules. Other businesses prefer a mix of schedules, and may have differing schedules based on departments or store requirements. Don’t worry … TimeForge automatically notifies managers and supervisors responsible for creating the schedule of any conflicts!

Upcoming Employee Schedules

Upcoming (and historical) employee schedules are displayed on the Schedule List page. Each schedule can be copied, modified, deleted, analyzed, printed or used to print break reports.

Schedules on the Today Page

The schedule is easily viewed on the Today Page – including all scheduled and confirmed shifts, pending shift swaps, open shift swaps, pending requests, and other information.

What is a Skill Level?

apresley — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:17:07 +0000

Skill levels in TimeForge allow managers and supervisors to rank staff members based on experience at each position. Skill levels can be used to differentiate experienced employees from inexperienced staffers or newly hired employees. The higher the skill level, the more experienced the staff member.

Employees who work more than one position or job can have multiple skill levels. For example, a staff member may be an excellent cashier (with a skill level of 5), but may be a manager in training (with a skill level of 2).

Employees can be ranked by skill levels for each position

Skill levels can be used to rank employees for each position that the staff member can work.

Shifts can require skilled employees

Each shift may require employees of different skills, which can be set at the template or schedule level.

For example, on Saturday and Sunday, a pool or aquatics center may need a very skilled head lifeguard (skill level 5), but on other days, perhaps a slightly less skilled life guard will suffice (a skill level 3 or 4).